'It seems to make a difference' - Julie Camacho on the new method to rid sprint star Shaquille of slow-start woes

Julie Camacho believes a minor pre-race adjustment may be the solution to Shaquille's slow starts as the top sprinter gears up for the Betfair Sprint Cup at Haydock in two weeks.

Part of the brilliance of the three-year-old's rise to sprinting stardom has been overcoming poor starts to win impressively. His rivals were handed many lengths from the gates in the Commonweath Cup and July Cup but, somewhat extraordinarily, he still powered clear to win easily. He is the 7-4 favourite to complete a Group 1 hat-trick on September 9.

His trainer has had the assistance of starting stall guru Craig Witheford at her base in Yorkshire this week and discovered Shaquille was much quicker from the gate when the stalls rug was removed moments before they opened. It has been deployed on his four starts since he refused to run at Newcastle in April yet an experiment with James Doyle went well this week.

Shaquille: put up a big performance at Royal Ascot Credit: Mark Cranham

"We'll take the rug off him before he jumps, that seems to make a difference and it did the other day," Camacho said. "It was something new and I'm not totally sure why it's the case, it could be the feeling he has. The rugs are quite big and heavy so the horse doesn't feel the stalls when they go in, but a lot of horses jump different with them on. I hope if we pull it off before he jumps out it'll almost make him feel a bit more naked and jump better. That's the theory.

"James came in and sat on him and it was good for him to see how different he is at home. He jumped out first time on his own and walked back down, then jumped with another horse the second time. He was very relaxed and I'm glad James got to see it because I'm sure people think it's a load of rubbish when I say he's a good ride."

Doyle has been unable to ride Shaquille in both of his top-level victories this season due to his retainer with Godolphin, but he is still the horse's first-choice jockey. Oisin Murphy took over riding duties – with Doyle aboard rival Noble Style – when he burst clear of Little Big Bear in the Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot while Rossa Ryan was on top when the Charm Spirit colt rocketed clear on the July course. Doyle's services were required at Ascot that day.

It is hoped the partnership can be renewed at Haydock as Godolphin do not have any entries in the Sprint Cup.

Camacho added: "James has always been our number-one choice but we haven't been able to have him. He has so many commitments so we'll wait and see.

"Shaquille is grand. We worked him on Saturday morning and were pleased, he's not a flashy worker but we were happy with him and he seems in great form."

Read more . . .

'We had more than one conversation about whether it was worth it' - Shaquille team might have quit training 

'He's some athlete' - Shaquille surges to brilliant July Cup win despite another nightmare start 

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